


strong at broken places

by justmesyd



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: A3! Secret Santa, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Gen, Kinda Crack, Light Angst, Very minor violence, first fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:20:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28386156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justmesyd/pseuds/justmesyd
Summary: The newest Spring Troupe member does not look like it, but he can lift some pretty heavy weights.a.k.a. Chikage is pretty strong but it's not obvious.
Relationships: Gekkagumi Family, MANKAI Company & Utsuki Chikage
Kudos: 41





	strong at broken places

**Author's Note:**

> Title comes from a quote by Ernest Hemingway: The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.

I.

  
The pillow he had was tough and rugged. And why was the room windy?

December slowly opened his eyes. Why am I upside down? He tried moving his body but he couldn’t. His left leg was throbbing and someone had a firm grip of his hips. A firm—  
The mission! The mission was compromised. It was supposed to be a simple mission: slip in, retrieve the data, slip out. He was guarding April and August, but then he heard running footsteps. April said he had already hacked into the security systems—

_“This is too easy! Easier than waking up December,” he boasted. August ruffled his hair then, and April got mad at him for touching his hair. Not that December cared. The earlier they finish the mission the faster they get to bake and eat gingerbread cookies._

Gunshots and running men. He remembered shooting at the guards, but they were too many. He did his best to shield April and August, but even with their training he could not defeat the small army at once.

December squirmed around again. Who is carrying him?

“Heh, you’re finally awake. Thought I was going to haul your ass all the way back to base again.”  
“Where?”  
“At a back alley, five blocks away from the drop-off point.”  
“August?”  
“Still unconscious. Now hold still while I—“

A sharp pain and nausea overwhelmed his senses. He didn’t realize that he closed his eyes until he felt someone slapping his cheeks. He looked up and saw that April was almost shirtless—his abs and pecs peeking through the tatters. He never really noticed April’s body before. Even when they changed clothes beside each other in cramped spaces, he didn’t pay attention to how much April—and his—body changed so much for the past three years. Why he was even noticing that little detail confused him. _It must be the blood loss._

“There. Do you think you can?”  
December didn’t hear the rest of April’s question. He fell asleep.

II.

Tasuku was a good judge of people’s physique. Though Tsumugi often chided him for being a muscle head, his healthy _consciousness_ (obsession) for muscles has never steered him wrong. He was able to find new futsal and swimming buddies anywhere. He even knew that Tsuzuru would be a good football player, even with his permanent eye bags, disheveled hair, and lanky figure.

He prided himself (in his head) for being good at knowing muscles—it was his whole shtick!—he was still very shocked when he saw Chikage lift _ten boxes of old scripts_.

“Where am I supposed to put this, Director?”  
“Oh, in my room is fine. Thanks!”

_Holy shit. How much does he really lift? What is his workout routine? I must know._  
He was still slack-jawed when Tsumugi nudged him.  
“Ta-chan, what are you looking at?”  
“How much muscle do you think Utsuki really has?”  
“Ta-chan you idiot,” Tsumugi sighed fondly as he followed Tasuku towards the Spring Troupe’s new member.

III.

Azuma often stayed up late at night. His professional cuddling job meant that he had late working hours, and he’d come home to Mankai when everyone was asleep. He did not particularly mind, but sometimes he found some members curled up in the lounge or in the kitchen and he often tried waking them up with little to no success. Sometimes he would ask Tasuku or Omi to help him coax the stray members back to bed, but only when either of them were awake.

When Chikage moved in, Azuma noticed that there were fewer times that he’d find other members falling asleep at odd places. He caught Chikage gently waking up Sakuya, Kumon, and Taichi a few times, herding the sleepy energetic boys to bed. And he’d seen Chikage carrying Hisoka, Masumi, and Tsuzuru from their napping spots (and in Tsuzuru’s case, where he passed out after consecutive sleepless nights writing another script) to their rooms. Azuma wondered why Chikage had a fond and nostalgic look whenever he’d carry or cajole members back to bed and why he never wants anyone to know his quiet way of making sure everyone is safe, especially at night. Azuma chuckled. _Very interesting indeed._

+1  
Chikage never told anyone when his birthday was. August would celebrate his birthday—he would bake a gingerbread cake, sing a little ditty about his good points, and tell him to make a wish as he blew out the candles. December would join in on the celebration and try to not bicker with him the whole day.

With August and December gone, he thought that birthday celebrations were meaningless. Why celebrate when you’re alone? Birthdays for him was a painful reminder that his family was gone.

When Chikage joined Mankai, he didn’t expect anyone to know when his birthday was. December didn’t have his memories and August was dead. He also didn’t want anyone to know. Birthdays are for families, and his would never come back. Chikage planned a quiet birthday: he would leave work early, eat the spiciest curry available at the new Thai restaurant, visit August’s makeshift grave, then go back to the dorms.

He didn’t expect that his troupe would surprise him with a slightly burnt spiced ginger cake, three hastily wrapped presents, and a birthday hat as he opened the door to his and Itaru’s room.

“Surprise! Happy birthday, grandpa!”  
“Oy, you shouldn’t shout too loudly.”  
“So noisy. He’s here now. Can I go back to my room now?”  
“Senpai, you’re so uncute. How long will you stand there?”

Chikage chuckled as he went in the room. Sakuya and Citron started to eagerly sing “Happy Birthday”, with Tsuzuru chiding them to not be too loud and Itaru holding Masumi back from leaving. He took a bite out of the cake—it was the same as August’s cake—and felt warm. His old family might be gone but his new one would celebrate with him and for him. _Maybe birthdays aren’t too bad_.

**Author's Note:**

> *pops in late with sleep deprivation and Starbucks*  
> This was a gift for Quinn! I'm so sorry for posting it so late. My internet was bad and I had a hard time uploading it in time. Hope you like it!


End file.
